I talked to the service center and they are delivering the car now with 3rd row. Shouldn't they be installing our first in order first infirst out?

Hobart |
8 februari 2013

but then they would have to go back and fix all of the cars. I think they will do it in tandem. New cars rolling out with 3rd row and you guys that have been waiting being contacted on a daily basis to schedule the install. Doesn't that seem more likely?

Brian H |
8 februari 2013

Hobart;
Yep, that makes much more sense.

spraisoody |
8 februari 2013

Is the third row something you can buy later on? It seems like it should be. I thought my kids would be too small so I didn't order it. Just got my final paperwork and was reading the min requirements for them and they both meet it now.

johnpreiner |
8 februari 2013

My understanding is that cars with the third row seat have extra re-inforcement at the rear of the car to protect for rear end collisions. For this reason I was told that if a third row seat is being considered, it should be ordered up front, even if your kids may be too little to use the seats right now.

Brian H |
8 februari 2013

But that it is possible, if you're prepared to foot the service bill! That's what I've read. Different messages from different reps and sources.

rlpm |
8 februari 2013

I got the same information as Brian H: it can be installed after your car is built, but doing so will incur additional labor cost.

TeslaLABlue |
8 februari 2013

My car will be delivered Monday, I was told no 3rd row seat.

They are only delivering with the seat if you live far from a service center, so you don't or they don't have to go far to install.
Then All folks that have been waiting and already have the car are getting the seats.

Last, folks like myself that live near a service center... Within about 2 weeks will get the install at the center or they can come out and install.

Salman |
8 februari 2013

@virtuallarry, I think might have gotten stale or incorrect information about 3rd row seat install. I took delivery of my car last week from the Seattle Service Center and it came with the seat installed. (I was told beforehand it would be on the due bill, but then it turned out to be a happy surprise.)

Now, it may be that they installed it because I originally chose home delivery (switched to Service Center pickup when told home delivery may delay receipt by several days or a week), but as I live only about 15 miles from the Service Center it doesn't seem all that far to me.

Best outcome for you, I guess, is to have the same thing happen as me, and find the seats already installed when you take delivery.

TeslaLABlue |
8 februari 2013

@salman. I only hope you are correct.

The delivery team and the local delivery guy both told me there will be no seats in back. My car was complete on Jan 31st sitting at the factory.
Los Angeles has only 4 delivery specialists and 80 some odd cars sitting in line to be delivered.

I told them I will pick up Monday at the service center.

Fingers crossed

TeslaLABlue |
8 februari 2013

Woops also they might be installing in cars that are not staying in California?
So they don't have to ship seats all over the country?

ronovan_mcnabb |
8 februari 2013

I'm in the SF bay area and took delivery of my car last Friday with the 3rd row installed. I was told that they were trying to install the seats in most cars being delivered now and are at the same time sending them out to service centers for those still waiting for them.

blurry_eyed |
8 februari 2013

I picked up my car (Sig #267, VIN #532) on November 2nd without the rear kid seats. Just had them installed on February 1st at the Seattle service center.

The kids absolutely love them and we (my wife and I) love them as well. It gives us a bit more peace and quiet in the car with the kids all the way in the back. Also if the kids are having 'issues' with each other, we can separate them and put one on the middle bench seats and the other in the rear kid seats to help them work it out (Our kids are 8yrs and 4yrs). My wife and I can also have semi-private conversations in the car when both of the kids are in the rear seats.

I do know that one piece of hardware that appears to only be installed in cars that have ordered the rear kid seats is a switch that is in the rear hatch that allows you to open up the rear hatch from inside the trunk area. The switch only works when the car is in park, so the kids aren't able to open it when the car is in drive.

If you are standing at the rear of the car looking into the hatch, the switch is located on the left side of the car just under the rail that the parcel shelf sits on. We do have the tech package so the switch operates the power lift gate. I've heard from people who don't have the tech package but have ordered the rear seats that the switch is in their car, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes in a car configured like that and don't know exactly how it would operate. I assume the non-tech package cars would just unlock the rear hatch when the switch is activated.

That's the only thing that I know is definitely different between cars that ordered the rear seats and cars that didn't. I believe all of the rear bench seats have metal rails that are hidden behind the black cloth that is on the backside of it just below the middle headrest of the bench seat. This is one point where the rear kid seats anchor when they are in the raised position. The service center cut away the cloth to expose the rails in our car. They also had to cut away cloth to expose two hinges that the seats anchor to at the edge of the footwell and also cut away more trunk cloth on the side of the hatch floor to install some eyelets where the latches by the hip area of the seat secure to.

kingkoti |
8 februari 2013

@blurry_eyed - we have a similar situation, out boys just turned 8,4 - Could you tell how the headroom is for the 8 year old (typical) ?

blurry_eyed |
8 februari 2013

My son is 55.6 pounds and 48.5 inches tall and his torso relative to his legs is longer. He has plenty of headroom in the back. I think he could grow at least another 6 to 12 inches and be fine with the headroom in the rear seats.

I think the limiting factor will be when his shoulders get taller than the shoulder straps. He might only have about 8 more inches to grow there. It's a guess as I haven't bothered to take a tape measure to it. I'm guessing that he will be good through age 10, maybe 11 in the back seats if he doesn't have a really big growth spurt before then.

The headliner in the back of the car makes the headroom in some of the pictures floating around the internet of kids in the rear seats seem really tight. It's a bit of an optical illusion in those pictures. He has plenty of space between the top of his head and the glass of the hatch.